A Stare Too Far
By Scribe Feather

	It was a quiet day on the outskirts of Ponyville. Storm clouds could be seen rolling in the distance as a future rainstorm gathered power. Not a soul could be found this far away from town except for the meek yellow pegasus that called these outskirts home in her little cottage that sat on the border of the Everfree Forest. 

	Fluttershy and her animal friends were usually the only things to be seen out here so close to the overgrown forest. Today was different however, Fluttershy had a guest over and was expecting one more very soon. She nervously bounced a leg as she sat in her cottage living room. Across from her sat the agitated Gilda, Dash's old griffin friend who did nothing, but scowl at the front door. The griffin snarled and huffed as time ticked away. As every minute passed, the door remained unopened and Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be found. Fluttershy would meekly look away anytime Gilda's burning gaze panned over to her, she was much too scared of the griffin to match glances.

	The two didn't exactly hit it off right the first time Gilda visited. Gilda came off as too pushy and mean and was too much for the soft spoken pony, leading to her running off crying. Gilda thought nothing of it, but Dash was insistent. They needed to bury the hatchet somehow. 

	So the plan was simple, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Gilda would all gather at Fluttershy's cottage and smooth things over like grown adults. Gilda needed a lot of convincing, but she finally decided it'd be simpler to do what Dash asked and just meet up. Fluttershy was nervous about the plan, but put her faith in Rainbow Dash and agreed. At least Dash would be there to protect her, right?

	Only when the time came, Fluttershy didn't count on one thing: Rainbow Dash's lackluster punctuality. Gilda arrived only a few minutes late to her cottage, but Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen. Fifteen minutes passed, then a half hour, then an hour, and still there was no sign of the cyan pony.

	Fluttershy could hardly stand having Gilda in her home. It was like having an angry bear in her house. Only this angry bear she couldn't talk down or offer a tasty honeycomb to calm them down. Gilda was fuming the moment she arrived.

	"Move it!" Gilda barked at a groups of fluffy animals that always seemed in her way. Gilda was like a lumbering giant around the smaller animals. Rabbits and mice darted in all directions to escape the pounding limbs of the griffin.

	A lot of the small animals sought refuge behind Fluttershy, cowering behind the pony's legs to avoid the stampeding griffin.

	"Dumb vermin." Gilda declared.

	"S-see, that's what Dash wanted me to...uhm...Talk to you about..." Fluttershy tried to cower behind her legs with her animal friends.

	"What? That I'm not all gentle and caring like some wimpy pony?"

	"I-I mean...J-just a little..."

	"So what? Is this some kind of namby-pamby intervention because I can't be nice to rats?"

	"M-maybe we should just...Wait for Rainbow Dash to get here..."

	"Maybe nothing! These little animals are a waste of my time!"

	"Please Gilda, Dash'll be furious if she comes over to see that no progress has been made."

	The angry griffin huffed. "Fine! What do you want me to do? Write every animal an apology letter?!"

	"Well," Fluttershy looked at Angel who was now using her legs as more of a shield then a shelter. The rabbit gave her a determined look and made a gesture with his hand. "If you and Angel could just...Smooth things over. At least Dash wouldn't be too angry at you leaving early...I guess..."

	"Whatever gets me out of here quicker," the large griffin hissed, crossing her arms in front of her. The griffin huffed as she scowled down at the white rabbit. If looks could kill, she'd be burning a hole into the floor. "I guess I'm sorry." She spouted out, void of any sincere. She looked at the rabbit who scowled back up at her. He wasn't at all convinced and nor were the other twenty critters standing a few feet behind him. Gilda looked up at Fluttershy with a raised eyebrow.

	"Angel, she said she was sorry," Fluttershy lowered her head down to match the white rabbit's eye level. The rabbit shook his head and pointed towards his other paw. "O-oh...You want to shake on it?" The pegasus' guess was answered with a nod and she looked up at Gilda. "C-could you? He said he'll forgive you if you do."

	Gilda let out an aggravated sigh, "fine! Anything to get this stupid apologizing over with!" She extended a claw down to the rabbit. "I'm sor- OW!" She quickly pulled the claw back away from the rabbit, a bit mark swelled up her middle claw. "Why you little...!"

	The griffin growled at the rabbit, locking eyes with the troublemaker as her wings spread out in an aggressive stance. Her claws dug deeply into the wooden floor as she scowled at the smart mouthed rabbit. Anger boiled inside her chest as she snarled at the rabbit.

	"I'll teach you to bite me!" She yelled through her teeth, raising a clawed limb into the air to ready for a swipe.

	"Stop!" A flash of yellow darted in between the quarreling two. Fluttershy blocked Gilda's sharp claws, preventing them from swiping Angel's head off.

	Gilda's claws froze in midair, surprised a wimpy pony like Flutter-whatever would even have the stones to stand in her way. "Back off, twerp! This is between me and Sir Bites-a-lot there!" She craned her neck to lock angry eyes with the rabbit. The feeling was mutual.

	Fluttershy pulled the steamed griffin's head back down by breaking her stare with some of her own.

	"Oh so you think you can stare me down?" Gilda scoffed, but Fluttershy was relentless. The pony's eyes still locked on the griffin's. "I mean seriously. You. Intimidating ME?!"

	At first, Gilda returned the angry stare with passive, smirky look. But soon her look intensified, trying to return the determined look that the yellow pony was giving her. The smirk melted into a stern look, then a bothered one, until finally she angrily scowled at the pony.

	"You can't win! Looks alone ain’t enough for..." Her words trailed off. The yellow wimp didn't seem to be faltering. No matter what Gilda said, the wimp's stare remained all the same. She was ready to just break the stare and let the pony have her moment, but her pride wouldn't stand for such a compromise. She continued to scowl back at the staring pony, their eyes continued to burned in anger. "Why don't you just give up. I'm not going to touch your stupid rabbit, alright?!"

	For a tiny moment, in the back of her mind, Fluttershy could sense a small voice telling her to break the stare. Clearly Gilda wouldn't give up whatever rampage she set herself on, but Fluttershy couldn't let Angel down. Gilda was trying to harm him and she wasn't going to let that happen. She gave the griffin the stare and amplified the stare as much as she could. She never stared at anyone else like this before.

	For every amount of stare the timid Fluttershy gave her, Gilda scowled back at her, eyebrows twitching as she continued to stare at the pony. Gilda was too proud to just look away. Now it was a matter of principle and she wasn't going to lose some wimpy stare down with a squishy pony! The griffin intensified her stare, growling a tiny bit as a bit of animistic behavior shined through.

	Suddenly Gilda felt her scowl weakening as her mind started to scream at her, begging for her to look away for some reason. She simply ignored the pleas, confident that she could win a simple staring contest. Only her stares became harder to hold up. She would occasionally shake her head, giving her eyes a brief rest before scowling back at the yellow pony.

	And then in a silent snap, Gilda felt something drain from her head. A burning pain for a second and then cold unfocused concentration. For just a moment, she felt her thoughts fade away into the back of her mind, as if running away from the intense stare.

	"Gilda?" Fluttershy waved a hoof in front of the griffin's eyes. No response. "Gilda, are you alright?" Once again, no response.

	Gilda's eyes dilated, her mouth hung open as her mind wiped itself clean. A trail of drool dribbled down the edge of her beak as she stared up at nothing. Her eyes fixed on nothing, but empty space.

	"Gilda?" Fluttershy tried again, but knew very well that Gilda wouldn't respond. She could only watch in disbelief as the mindless griffin sat there, transfixed by nothing in particular. "I wonder..." Was all that Fluttershy said before she walked away from the mind wiped griffin.

	Keeping a close eye on the mentally regressed griffin, Fluttershy dug through some bags that she kept in a corner of the living room. Most of the bags were filled with feed or little sweaters she was hoping to distribute among the little animal population, but all that was ignored. She turned to a light green bag that had little colorful flowers with luscious pedals embroidered on it's surface. She pulled the bag out from the pile and carried it over to the dazed griffin who now busied herself with chewing on a claw.

	The green flower bag was unzipped and Fluttershy pulled out a brightly colored rattle. She always used this rattle to keep toddlers and baby animals happy and distracted. Now she wondered if it'd work for Gilda.

	Once she shook it once, Gilda's eyes locked onto the colorful object with the same unfocused look she gave everything now. Fluttershy shook the rattle above Gilda's head and the griffin followed the noise maker everywhere it went.

	"Just like a baby," Fluttershy chortled, "Guess I should get you in a diaper, before you do something else like a baby."

	Digging through the contents of the green bag, Fluttershy pulled out an adult sized diaper. She was relieved to find a couple diapers that would fit Gilda in the green bag. They were usually for older animals who couldn't hold it in long enough to be house animals, but the pegasus figured it would have to do.

	Gilda squirmed as she babbled a string of incomprehensible sounds. Fluttershy gently manipulated the griffin's body into a laying down position, spreading out her legs to slip the diaper underneath her. The diaper was then lined up and pulled up between Gilda's legs, securely taped around her squirming waist.

	And not a moment after the diaper was securely taped around Gilda's waist, her bladder and bowels cut loose simultaneously. With the same blank stare and content smile, Gilda filled the diaper up, warming it in the front with her yellow urine and bulging the back with her mess. The once tough and bully griffin now sat in a pile of her own mess that squelched beneath her weight.

	Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief. "Phew, that was a close one."

	The diapered griffin carried on normally, barely even pausing to assess the heavy load that now tugged at her diaper. She would occasionally scoot to another part of the living room, inspecting a discarded toy or furnishing with wide, awe-inspired eyes. Everything seemed so new and interesting to the mentally regressed griffin and something fresh was seen at every turn. She didn't travel far in her adventures, the heavy weight of her wet and messy diaper and her jelly like legs made sure of that.

	This gave Fluttershy some time to think. What was she going to say to Rainbow Dash? After all, this was all her fault, she couldn't exactly blame Dash's old friend's sudden regression on the griffin herself. SHE was the one who stared at her for too long.

	And then, almost as if she could read minds, Rainbow Dash knocked on the cottage front door. Reluctantly, Fluttershy had to answer the door, bracing herself for angry words that would likely sting her fragile state of mind.

	"Hey! Fluttershy! Sorry I was late. I had this awesome trick that I needed to try out before the rainstorm kicked in," the cyan brushed off her lateness, "would have TOTALLY ruined my moves if I waited too long. Is Gilda here?"

	"W-well...Yes...But uhm...Something...Happened..." Fluttershy muttered, ears tucked back as she worried.

	"Oh! You mean you've been alone with Gilda this whole time? Really sorry to do that to ya. Well I'm here now so let's see what we can do," Rainbow Dash barely minded Fluttershy's nervousness. Honestly, the yellow pegasus always seemed nervous about something so now didn't raise any alarm. Dash trotted into the middle of the living room, barely even noticing the diapered griffin on the floor until she got close. "I really hope you two can work things out-"

	The cyan pegasus froze mid step, eyes bulged out wide. The first thing to hit her was the heavy stench that lingered in the room. The foul odor was quickly traced back to the slobbering griffin who was busy on the floor chewing on a clawed hand, babbling gibberish.

	Gilda looked up at Dash and gurgled a drool covered giggle as strings of spittle dripped from her slobbery beak. She happily bounced on top her mess, excited to see her best friend here.

	Rainbow Dash looked at the regressed Gilda with a blank stare, blinking a couple times before she turned to look at Fluttershy. “Fluttershy..."

	"It was an accident!" the tense Fluttershy finally broke free like a coiled spring. "I tried to reason with her! Then she tried to hurt Angel and I got in between them! Then we started to scowl at each other and I used the stare on her! But I did it for too long! I stared at her for too long and then she just dropped to the floor with a blank stare on her face! It was an accident I swear!"

	Rainbow Dash blinked a couple times, taking it all in. As Fluttershy explained and pleaded, the cyan pony would occasionally glance over at her diapered friend and then turn back to Fluttershy.

	"And...The diaper?" Dash asked with a deadpan voice.

	"I-instinct I guess," Fluttershy said with a quivering voice, "the moment I put it on her she just kinda...Went..." She then plopped down on the ground, shoulders slumped and absolutely defeated. She let out a single, deep sigh. "I...You must hate me..."

	"Hate you? Fluttershy, I'm your friend," Dash consoled her pony friend, helping the sad pony back up to her feet. "Besides, this ain't the worst I've seen Gilda get into."

	"Y-you're not upset?"

	"Well...A little," Dash replied, Fluttershy instantly slumped again, "but that doesn't mean I hate you, Fluttershy. Accidents happen and I'm sure none of this is permanent, right?"

	"Y-yeah, I guess so..." Fluttershy answered. "This is the first time's it's happened."

	Dash closed the gap between her and the babbling Gilda. She picked up the colorful rattle and Gilda instantly turned to face the her. Dash gave the rattle a few shakes and smirked at Gilda whose eyes locked onto the noisy object. "What're ya gonna do with her till then?" Dash asked as she watched the mentally regressed griffin giggle and try to weakly grab the rattle out of the air. "You can't exactly leave her when she's like...This..."

	"I guess I just gotta care for her. Maybe teach her not to be so mean to others."

	Rainbow Dash smirked, "Yeah, good luck! If I learned anything from hanging out with her it's that she's a tough nut to crack. How you gonna do that?"

	"Oh you know. A guiding hand, kind words," Fluttershy's voice became even softer, "spankings..."

	"It's going to be a tough job," Dash added, still shaking the rattle in front of the regressed Gilda. "Keeping an eye on a full grown griffin. Making sure she doesn't get into any trouble. Keeping her clean."

	"Would you be able to...Babysit her some days?"

	"Babysit? Like feed her and change her diapers?"

	"I-I just thought...Since you're her best friend..." Fluttershy added, "o-only if you want to."

	"Babysit..." Rainbow Dash rolled the word in her mouth as she gave it some thought. "Yeah sure! I can do that!"